Of Mind and Matter
by orange.leaf.hokage
Summary: Sasuke Uchiha is a wild card,an ever present menace weighing on the minds of Konoha populace ,gone but never forgotten, and Tsunade has a sinking suspicion that after achieving all the power that he hungered for, now he has his sights set on something (or someone) else... Disclaimer:Author does not own Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

'They're leaving' Whispered Kiba both him and Akamaru standing absolutely still,tension pulling the lines of their bodies taut.

Hinata exhaled a sigh of relief and lowered the amount of chakra flowing to her palms

'That was close' said Kiba , finally relaxing from his position and walking over to where Hinata stood with her byakugan activated,still peering into the thick of the forest where the six enemy ninja had stood a mere five minutes ago.

Hinata nodded still not trusting her voice not to betray her .

'We need to vacate this area immediately' came Shinos voice, 'we cant be sure they didnt sense us'

' They didnt sense anything bug boy'

Kiba bristled 'besides , what if they did? We could take those losers any day!

'Ano Kiba kun, Shino kun? Shouldnt we leave now that we have the chance, Hokage-sama will be waiting for the report of our mission...' interjected Hinata before the fight could escalate any further ,her eyes nervously scouring the area for the slightest movement.

'Hinata's right. Lets go.'

Said Shino curtly, turning away and leaping into the trees without a backward glance .

'Who died and made him leader?'seethed Kiba,'What are we? Cowards running away from from a fight?'

'Stupid bug boy' Kiba shook his head in disgust prepared to launch into another diatribe on Shinos many injustices.

Seeing the inordinately anxious expression on Hinatas face, he relented and brushed a hand roughly across his face 'Oh Fine! I don't know whats come over you two, lets go .C'mon Akamaru, Hinata.

'OYE,Wait up bug breath! 'Kiba yelled as they followed the now barely visible Shino into the trees.

After relentlessly racing towards Konoha for more than 18 straight hours they finally made camp at midnight and after briefly scouting the area collapsed on their bedrolls, with Kiba begrudgingly volunteering to keep first watch.

'Are you sure Kiba-kun? I -I can take the first watch if Kiba-kun is tired,'said Hinata blearily rubbing her now bloodshot eyes.

'Im sure hinata. After all I have Akamaru to keep me awake. Right,boy? 'Kiba said earning only a pathetic whine from the large dog as a response.

What felt like minutes later Hinata awoke to Shino gently nudging her shoulder , his own voice hoarse with exhaustion as he told her there was just an hour left till sunrise.

Guiltily Hinata shook out the last vestiges of drowsiness . The boys had once again let her oversleep at the cost of their own comfort. She couldn't afford to be careless, they were just a short distance away from Konohas gates now. Activating her blood line limit she settled in to wait.

Time seemed to stretch and slowly, very slowly Hinata felt her posture shift from rigid back alertness to a slouch barely supported by her backpack. The veins on her temples thinned out as her eyes lost their focus . Just as sleep was about to overtake her completely she woke up as if stung .

'Was that-No. It cant be. Not this close to konoha. Itcantitcantitcant'. The thought raced around her mind as she teetered on the brink of hysteria. Should she wake up her teamates? They were so tired,she was too ,she had been half asleep when it happened, she must have imagined it. She couldnt disturb them without being sure, not when they were so very tired. '

Muttering a fervent prayer before reactivating her now almost chakra exhausted bloodline limit she advanced slowly towards the cluster of trees through which the light had flashed.

'Light. Light, not eyes. They weren't eyes' 'Hinata assured herself , raising her hands in her family's fighting stance as she stepped carefully forward. Because if it were true, if she had really seen what she thought she had seen , then waking her teammates wouldn't help, nothing ,she was sure, would help.

Suddenly, terror, sheer unadulterated terror tore through her being and her mind latched on to one last thought before it became entrapped by one of the three most powerful Doujutsus in the Ninja world-the Sharingan.

'He's back, he's found me...'

'Sasuke'


	2. Chapter 2

*5 **months ago***

* * *

Hinata awoke to the sound of someone yelling her name.

'HINATA!HINATAAAA!'

Her eyelids felt like lead weights and her body a pile of mush with every single rock and pebble underneath her seeming to almost be imbedded into her flesh.

'HINATAA!'

The voices continued to echo around her, coming closer, then going away, making her growing headache throb against her temples.

She inched her hands across the ground, feeling for anything that could help and on finding a suitable sized rock, she extracted the last scrap of chakra she could muster and threw the rock as accurately as she could towards the familiar voices.

'HINATAA!HINAT-what-what was that?!'

The sound of light footsteps coming towards her had her sighing in relief.

'Chouji! I've found her!', she heard a voice yell.

'Is she...?'

'She's alive, but extremely drained.I'm going to give her some of my chakra.'

Warmth percolated through Hinata's body, easing her sores,removing the leaden feeling from her eyes.

She opened them slowly to see Ino and Chouji looking down at her with worry etched onto their faces.

'Hinata! Where were you?What happened?!We've been looking for you for hours now!Were you training?Why is your chakra depleted?Were you using your Byakugan?To this degree?! Dont you KNOW how dangerous that is?! 'Shrieked Ino, anxiously shaking Hinata by her shoulders.

Hinata winced and squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to protect her raw nerves. She knew Ino's worry was heartfelt but her voice had been getting progressively more shrill and the throbbing in Hinata's head was returning with a vengeance.

Large hands gently removed Ino's frantic grip on Hinata's shoulders and Hinata felt her back being leaned against a sturdy object.

'Ino..She looks exhausted. Lets give her a minute to recover before we start asking her questions ,eh?' ,Chouji's soft voice rumbled against the back of her head.

'Oh right,sorry Hinata' , whispered Ino apologetically.

Taking a deep breath Hinata slowly opened her eyes again to see Ino sitting back on her haunches looking at her with expectant worry while she was all but cradled in Choujis lap.

Too tired to move and grateful for the support, she felt herself blush slightly at her position but stayed put.

'Umm, Gomen Ino-chan. It's not your fault, my head just feels a little heavy I- I'll be all right in a minute ', Hinata reassured her blearily,'As to your questions I'm not exactly sure what happened...The last thing I remember is...training?', Hinata said as she frantically cast her mind trying to remember any details from before.

There was something on the periphery of her consciousness, something important that she tried to edge towards, something dark and dangerous that stood there waiting for her just out of reach.

Something...

Red.

A sudden sharp pain behind her eyes made her lurch forwards with her hands on her head and she sensed both Ino and Chouji scramble to keep her from falling on her face.

Through her fast fading consciousness she heard snippets of a hurried discussion between her teammates.

'We have - the village. She - to be looked at!'

'I know but -'

'We can-'

'Yeah, that -work'

'Alright'.

A minute later she felt herself being picked up from the ground and adjusted against Chouji's chest despite her feeble protests that she could walk. A green glow soon filtered through her lashes and the piercing pain in her skull slowly melted away.

'It's alright Hinata-chan, you need to rest', Ino said soothingly,' Chouji is with you, I'll be back in a flash and then we're taking you back home.'

* * *

Author's note:

Hi everyone.  
This is an idea that has been cooking in my drafts for a while and after being an avid reader on this site for many years I decided to kinda just put it out there.

This fic is my first attempt at writing any piece of fiction ever and I thought it was fitting to begin within the greatest fandom in the world-Naruto (in my humble opinion).Your kind words and reviews were unexpected but very welcome and are encouraging me to continue this work at a faster pace than I had originally planned and I just wanted to say thank you!  
Hope you enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

Authors note:Chapter 1 is present day.

as we go forwards this story may be alternating between the past and present and so each chapter will be headed with the relevant time-frame.

* * *

 ***5 months ago***

Black

Red

 **Rage**

Black

 **Rage**

Black

Black

Black

When Hinata woke next she was in a bed.

There was a steady hum of activity around her and a hand resting delicately on her forehead.

'Oh good, you're awake Hinata-chan! I must go inform Tsunade-Sama immediately.

The nurse will be here in a second and there is a glass of water next to you if you get thirsty, okay?', Sakura's comforting voice trickled through the haze as Hinata forced her eyes open.

'H-Hai Sakura-chan,Thank you', said Hinata.

'Don't worry about it Hinata-chan. I will be back to check on you as soon as I can.', said Sakura with a smile and wave as she left the room.

Just as Hinata had gathered the strength to adjust herself into an upright position she heard strong, purposeful footsteps coming towards her door and less than 10 minutes after Sakura had left, the Hokage herself was entering Hinata's room.

'I heard you were awake. How are you feeling?', asked Tsunade acknowledging Hinata's hastily bowed head with a nod and busying herself with tubes and monitors.

Confused and a little anxious at the Hokage herself taking out the time to visit her in such an urgent manner Hinata responded with a meek, 'I am well Hokage-Sama,thank you.'

'No, girl. You are not well,'Tsunade said gruffly,'You have been out like a light for the past 8 days, driving your old teammates out of their minds with worry and your recent teammates with guilt.'

Hinata flushed and exclaimed ,'Eig-Eight days?!'

'Yes, Eight. If that dogboy came around asking me about you one more time I would've punched him out myself ', grumbled the Hokage as she settled herself in the chair next to Hinata's hospital bed.

Abruptly Tsunades demeanor changed and she leaned forward with the focused gaze that exuded her status as Leader of her village and said,'Now, Hinata listen to me **very** carefully.

I need to know **exactly** what happened.'

Hinata took a deep breath and hung her head,'Tsunade-Sama I-I'm very sorry, I can't remember anything.I have tried but-all I remember is that we were on a mission to the Land of Tea and when we stopped to rest I moved to a clearing to practice my kata. Everything after...is dark', she said reluctantly, noticing the ex Sannin's face growing more ominous as she spoke.

For a few minutes silence reigned, only broken by Tsunade's nails drumming on the side of her chair.

Hinata grew progressively more worried by the expression of stern disapproval gathering on Tsunade's brow.

But, no , it wasn't just disapproval Hinata realised, gazing at her leader pensively.

There was something else there too.

The expression...It also held anger, annoyance... and... a hint of...could it be...?

Fear?

Hinata froze, the thought chilling the blood in her veins. No. It could not be. There was nothing, nothing her Hokage feared. She was a Sannin, her strength and wisdom were legendary and she had fought foes the strongest shinobi cowered from.

The fear had to be for someone else. It must be.

Just as these thoughts were solidifying into a ball of panic in Hinata's mind, Tsunade looked up at her, gaze piercing and direct, and said,

'How do you know Sasuke Uchiha?'


	4. Chapter 4

***5 months ago***

Hinata faltered.

'Nani?'

'You heard me girl!Sasuke Uchiha,the last survivor of the Uchiha clan. How do you know him? , barked Tsunade.

Growing steadily less panicked and more disconcerted Hinata shook her head,'I-I do not know him at all Hokage-sama. I've never spoken to him. He-he is an important person to Na-Naruto-kun. That is all I know' Hinata muttered with a heavy heart, memories resurfacing of a love lost and a childhood dream shattered.

Tsunade's scrutinising gaze softened and she sighed.

'Well then, girl. I'm afraid I have bad news for you.'

Hinata looked up at the ex-Sannin with blank Hyuuga eyes that seemed unafraid and only mildly curious but were betrayed by the spasmodic clenching of her hands. Tsunade inwardly sighed again at the sight of this strong, determined kunoichi whose own body had always been her greatest opposition.

Shaking herself out of her reverie Tsunade decided the direct approach was best. Hinata deserved it.

'You have been tortured Hinata,' she said keeping her voice firm and steady,'I don't know for how long it has been happening , it could have been weeks, maybe months but you were tortured yesterday. I can tell you it wasn't the first time, but it could definitely have been your last.'


	5. Chapter 5

Authors note: The most important thing to say here is thank you to everyone who is reading this story and especially to everyone who has reviewed. Your thoughts and questions shape and bend this story as much as your encouragement stimulates me to write.

There have been some queries regarding the setting of this story and I wanted to address story is mainly character centric so I will be tweaking it at parts from canon if a character feels important to the fic but has died/would be at a different place in the manga/anime.

Without giving away important elements of the story I can say that it is set after the Pain Invasion Anime Arc, so konoha is saved and sasuke is rogue but Tsunade is still Hokage(because who doesn't love her?) and the original team affiliations are mostly intact(besides team 7 and their missing nin member of course) and normal pre invasion life has resumed.

*End Authors Note*

*5 months ago*

Hinata walked along the corridor to her room, head swimming with the flood of information her Hokage had unleashed on her a few days ago, one thought continuously chasing itself around her mind.

'Why?'

Tsunade had informed Hinata in her matter of fact way that Hinata was lucky to be alive after Ino and Chouji had found her in the woods.

Not a hair on her head had been injured and if not for Ino's training as a healer, her teammates would not even have known that she was hurt.

That night something had ripped her mind apart and then inexplicably and crudely tried to hash it back together. It was the kind of aggressive lesion attributable to only the strongest, most vicious of genjutsu attacks and had taken a team of healers and many hours of delicate, exhausting work to remedy.

But that ,the Hokage had intoned sombrely, was not what worried her.

It was the evidence of long term scarring she had unearthed, hiding under the acute destruction she was healing, that had perturbed Tsunade.

And the fact that Hinata had no memory of it at all.

Tsunade had figured it out first, and after commanding Hinata to keep Sasuke's possible involvement to herself during her first visit she had set about trying to convince herself it wasn't true.

She had made Hinata go through days and days of searching, had her submit to a Mind-Meld with Ino Yamanaka under her own supervision, and had even begrudgingly consulted the current head of the Interrogation squad.

All in an effort to have her deepest fear nullified.

However, once it became apparent no one could figure out how the long term damage could have been incurred and kept hidden for so long Tsunade's worst suspicions had been confirmed and she had wasted no time making the Hyuuga aware of the facts.

She had laid the matter before Hinata in as direct and clinical a way as she could:

1, Only innumerous, leisurely Genjutsu invasions of a resisting mind could have caused this exact pattern of neuronal injury.

2,There was only one dangerously gifted , sociopathic rogue ninja capable of chakra control fine enough as to invade a mind so often and so deeply without causing any unintentional brain damage.

And so , in the Hokage's office, seated across from her leader,

Hinata had been forced to come to terms with the fact that Sasuke Uchiha had been inexplicably perusing her mind like a play thing since an indefinite amount of time and had gone through the wasteful effort of wiping her memory with his Sharingan after every event.

The deafening silence that followed had only been broken by Hinata muttering the same question that haunted her now.

'Why?'

And to that, not even The Hokage had an answer.


	6. Chapter 6

Present day

It took only a second and Hinata's eyes rolled back into her skull as she collapsed towards the ground.

Eyes focused on the silent campsite behind the falling woman, Sasuke slid forward, and caught his delicate prey in his arms before her long strands could even brush the dry leaves scattered on the ground around her.

There was a blur of motion and the hunter and his prey

were gone.

*Start flashback*

It had been five months since he last saw her moving.

Five months since he had experienced the blinding rage that surged within him and aimed itself right at her mind, her beautiful, precious, disgusting mind.

Empty of all of his demons, with no place within its clean walls for his horrors, his nightmares, everything that made him HIM, and everything she would never see.

He had wanted her to see them.

And in his RAGE at her peace, the sanctum of her mind, the torture of his own he had released them all.

He had unleashed his darkness, the blood of his family, the screams of his victims, the screams of his past, of the child desperate for power, succumbing to the bloodlust of the snake, the memories of murder, the murder of his brother-Itachi, his father, his mother, his CLAN. He had released it all. And aimed it straight at her.

Her.

Hinata.

As she stood within the cage he had made of her own mind, scared but not cowering, preparing herself for the onslaught of his demons, whispering her nindo in the face of her own demise.

He wanted her to win.

He wanted her to cleanse him too.

Instead she had lost, drowning under the waves and waves of blood, clawing her way to the surface only to be faced by his greatest demon of all,

his Self.

And no one could defeat him .(even though he wanted her to, he wanted her to)

And so with a final look of terror that had his greatest demon smile in satisfaction her mind had rent asunder.

And he had watched,

as she failed, as he failed,

as she lay dying, as he killed her.

Withdrawing from the destruction of her mind he had looked on, ensconced in his own devastation, as she had neared the end, the peaceful, peaceful end.

And he had felt fear, the kind he had always heard of but never felt.

The kind that clenches your heart and steals your breath,the kind the freezes your thoughts and clears your mind.

He felt it. And it was for her.

And so, he had saved her.

He had entered her mind, bracing himself against the jagged edges of the shell left behind, he had fixed what he could, every little piece that would fit, that could fit, he had put back in its place.

And when she finally, finally drew in a breath, and returned to the world of the living, he had withdrawn, no longer able to witness the havoc his insanity had wreaked, at his salvation that would never be his.

And he had left.

Only to see the object of his every recurring nightmare, walking along the stream across from him, walking, moving, alive.

He had watched, entranced, as she had bent to drink the water, unsure if this was the beginning of another trick of his mind and if she would soon be lying lifeless in front of him as she always did. As she always did.

And then she had turned and the spell was broken.

She was alive.

And she was on a mission and she had her teammates with her, the loud boy and the one with the insects,vestiges from his old life.

She was alive.

And now she would be his.

*End flashback*


	7. Chapter 7

It smelled wrong.

She was at home, in her bed, and yet...it smelled nothing like home.

Home was clean and soft, her favourite lavenders lending their comforting fragrance early in the morning for her to wake up to.

There were no lavenders here.

A shinobi's instincts can be the only thing standing between life and certain death,and no one kept this lesson closer to her heart than Hinata.

And Hinata's instincts were yelling at her to stay calm and gauge her surroundings; **she was not at home**.

After a few minutes of breathing evenly and keeping her muscles relaxed,Hinata carefully and slowly opened her eyes , knowing the chakra surge that came with activating her byakugan might give her away instantly.

She opened one eye and then the other, and realised she was in...a cave?

Hinata blinked.

The 'room' was a large cave , the light unevenly reflecting off the rough stone walls emanating from a single lamp somewhere to the left behind Hinata .

After listening intently for another minute Hinata slowly stretched her limbs, preparing them for sudden fight or flight.

Another minute of silence passed and she jolted out of the bed into a fighting stance before she had even landed on her feet and whirling with her back to the nearest wall.

As she has suspected,the stone room was empty.

Adrenaline had shocked her wide awake and Hinata took a quick look around the chamber, realising with growing dread that it was completely devoid of any weapons or even any object that could be used as a weapon.A quick pat down of her (thankfully intact) clothes had already yielded dismal results, her shuriken had been removed, even the tiny senbon she kept hidden in her sleeves were gone.

Hinata took in all details quickly, maintaining her attention towards the door for the slightest indication of movement beyond it.

Save for the bed pushed against one wall and the built-in light fixture there was nothing left to notice.

Once she had confirmed there was no further clue or advantage to be gained, Hinata pondered her next move.

The last thing she remembered was heading back towards Konoha with Kiba-kun and Shino-kun. They had settled for the night and it had been her turn to take watch.

Had they been ambushed?

Were-were they...?

'No, nothing could have happened to them,' Hinata thought, clenched fists held tight against her now wildly thumping heart,'they're strong, they must have escaped.'

'Yes,' thought Hinata firmly taking a calming breath ,' they are alright.I must have been captured sometime in the night.I need to escape from here! They must be so worried about me!'

Steeling her nerves Hinata inched towards the discordant wooden door.

It opened silently to a dimly lit corridor, again with stone walls too uneven to look manmade.

After brief consideration, Hinata again decided not to use her blood line limit, unwilling to lose the slight advantage the element of surprise could give her.

She inched slowly across the long corridor, senses warily looking out for any possible traps along the way .

After counting a hundred measured steps, Hinata finally saw an opening on the far end and came to a halt.

It was the only exit to the stone corridor she had seen since she started walking, and so it her captor must be on the other side of it.

'Byakugan!', whispered Hinata.

The space beyond was empty.

Heart now beating like a drum in her ears Hinata kept her blood limit activated as she did a quick inventory of the large cavern.

It was again an enclosed, hollow stone chamber much larger than the one she had woken up in with a few notable differences.

The most conspicuous of which was a crumpled pile of rugs pushed against the wall in what she presumed was a makeshift futon.

Someone had slept there.

Suspicions now confirmed Hinata moved towards the far side of the cavern where a jagged ledge ran on the side of the wall.

Sitting innocently atop the ledge ,was , of all things, bread.

Coming closer to the ledge she realised it also had a sunken basin in the middle which was full of a clear liquid.

She stared ruminatively at this sight.

Someone,presumably her kidnapper had been keeping guard in this room and apparently assuming she would stay asleep for a while longer ,had gotten careless and left.

Whipped into action by this realisation she looked around for an exit.

If someone had been here with her , and now they weren't that must mean there was an exit that she had missed.

Feeling along the sides of the cavern with her hands she focused her byakugan at the thickness of the stone and looked for air currents ,

and she found it.

The section of the wall behind the rugs had an air current escaping under it.

'That must be the exit!', Hinata thought excitedly.

Standing back with renewed energy she again refocused her blood line limit, narrowing her eyes as she peered at the segment to gauge where the opening might be.

Seconds passed.

Minutes.

Sweat started trickling down Hinata's forehead as she felt herself straining to maintain her byakugan.

Growing more and more agitated by her declining chakra Hinata drew closer to her target.

Water started leaking from her right eye and Hinata realised she didn't have any time to lose.

Releasing her byakugan, she directed all of her energy into her palm, and pulling her arm back , she PUNCHED.

And stared in shock as her chakra laden palm merely bounced against the wall like a wave in the shore.

Feeling sudden exhaustion settle into here Hinata struggled against her treacherous eyelids.

'NO, I must get out!,'Hinata thought furiously as she desperately reactivated her byakugan, forcing chakra into both her hands ,'failure is not an option, that is not my nindo!'

'AAAAH!,'yelled Hinata as she punched the wall with her Gentle Fist Twin Lions technique.

She punched again and again, the lions on her hands threatening to flicker out before she forced more of her life energy into them.

They lions roared back to life and she punched again and again, blinking back unwitting tears of exhaustion and anger, refusing to be defeated when she was so close, so close to escape.

 **Punch**

 **Punch**

 **Punch**

'Whoosh'

The blazing lights at the ends of the hands sputtered once, twice and then disappeared .

'Wha-?'Hinata blinked in shock before crumpling to her knees as her legs gave way.

She sat there for hours, staring at her bruised and bleeding knuckles , unwilling to absorb the terrifying reality that her family's strongest technique hadn't been able to break her free from this cage.

—-

Hinata clenched her hand over her stomach as her eyes went in and out of focus.

She had been here for days.

There was no way to tell the time in this stone prison but she had started counting minutes in her head and approximately marking every hour by breaking off a piece of bread.

She hadn't eaten a single crumb.

She was sure it must be laced with a tranquilliser and she would NOT fall asleep.

After trying to break open through her prison to the brink of collapse, Hinata had gone over the facts.

She had been captured.

She was exhausted.

Her kidnapper had left.

He must return at some point.

And so with these four truths established in her mind she had decided the best course of action would be to stay alert and wait for someone to return.

And when they did , they would come through that opening, hopefully unaware that she was awake and that split second advantage might be her only chance to overwhelm them and escape.

That had been three days ago.

She hadn't used any chakra since then, knowing she had to conserve her energy, but even then her body was giving up.

She was severely dehydrated, fighting against waves of nausea and light headedness , her mouth dry as sandpaper, the wounds on her knuckles so dry and crusty, they pulled open with every movement.

Wearily leaning her head back against the wall where she was crouched Hinata rubbed a sore palm across her face. She had pinched her torso raw in an effort to stay awake these past few days and still no one had come.

Surely, surely resting her eyes for a minute couldn't hurt,right?Right?

Hinata closed her eyes.

.

.

.

And then she opened them.

And froze in shock.

Across from her , on top of the ledge, sat a new, intact, whole loaf of bread.


	8. Chapter 8

Authors note:A quick thank you to all the readers.I would just like to request, if you have the time, please drop a a word or two .It means a a first time writer, It's easy to get discouraged if it seems like the audience isn't fully enjoying the direction the story is taking and since it is being written on the go around a loose plot idea your encoragement really gets the creative juices flowing.:)

Another quick thank you to the people who have already of love for you all,This accelerated update is dedicated to you!

Enjoy!

* * *

Hinata ate the bread.

By the time she gave in to her body she was already too weak to swallow properly and had to wet the pieces in the basin before she could chew with her sand paper mouth.

After she had eaten as much as she could she crawled back to the pile of rugs and morosely continued her seemingly futile vigil.

She thought for sure delirium had set in when her eyes refocused and found a pair of sandal clad feet resting inches from her face.

Hinata closed her eyes to slowly reopen them, her eyelids abrasive against her dry cornea.

When the feet didn't disappear ,she lethargically looked up, following the legs that were seemingly attached to the feet.

Up , up , up.

Her gaze when Up,up legs, up a long neverending torso, over a wide expanse of shoulder, past an elongated neck, onto a shadowed face.

Hinata frowned as she tried to make her traitorous eyes focus on the features , everything was a blur.

The man (or so she thought) stood absolutely still, looking down at her in silence.

Somewhere deep in the recesses of Hinata's consciousness came the sneaking thought that maybe there was something she was supposed to do now but try as she might the fatigued kunoichi could not remember what it was.

Get up', commanded the voice.(ah, so it was a man)

Hinata blinked up at him.

A grunt of annoyance and Hinata was being lifted onto wide shoulders like a rag doll,carried across the room and settled on the ledge.

'Drink,' ordered the voice as a rubber flask was shoved roughly into her mouth.

Hinata gasped and sputtered, almost choking on the liquid gushing from the bottle into her dry throat.

Suddenly the angle was adjusted and the flood mercifully turned into a steady trickle that she gulped slowly but greedily.

The water was clean and crisp, with a sweet aftertaste and quenched her thirst faster than she had expected.

Finally the flask was empty, Hinata realised with a sinking feeling, and apparently the man realised it too, throwing the bottle away with another grunt .

The man.

Hinata froze, her muscles reflexively clenching in the acute realisation of her folly.

Slowly regaining her strength Hinata was just about to pull chakra into her fist when, before she could even gasp, her head was violently jerked upwards and both her bruised and battered hands squeezed into one large hand.

Hinata flinched from the sharp pain and bit her tongue to block the scream that threatened to escape when she caught sight of her captor.

Standing before her, coal black eyes blazing, was the self proclaimed Avenger, the wildcard of the Shinobi world, the man , who had been playing with her mind like a toy, like an experimental rat in a lab.

The man who had already attempted to murder her once before.

Standing before her...was her worst nightmare.

Sasuke Uchiha.


	9. Chapter 9

Sasukes eyes blazed.

The instant she had realised who her captor was the memory of her capture had come rushing back, along with her fear.

She trembled in his grasp and with a sound of disgust Sasuke released his vicious hold and moved back.

'There is no escape ,' came the matter-of-fact statement from the avenger.

Silence.

'Hyuuga!,' Sasuke barked.

Hinata flinched in terror and looked up at his clouded face.

'This is where you will live from now on.

With me.

There is no escape and there never will be.

Do you understand?'

Hinata continued to stare at him in fearful disbelief.

'I said, do you understand?', sasuke whispered, his face suddenly and inexplicably so close that Hinata could see her wide irises reflected in his eyes.

Before Hinata could even respond Sasuke dipped his head lowly and in a leisurely way nuzzled her neck.

Paralysed with fear and unable to even comprehend the situation Hinata was convinced she was hallucinating.

When she blinked again sasuke had retreated to the other corner of the cavern casually watching her.

Too disoriented by the sudden, contradicting influx of information, Hinata shook her head to clear it and asked,'I don't unders-W-Why are you doing this?'

'Because you're mine.'


	10. Chapter 10

authors note:

A few things I felt that needed to be addressed before we go in this story.

Storyline:

Itachi and sauke have already faced off,Itachi is dead and Sasuke knows the truth about his sacrifice. However , before he could focus singlemindedly on vengeance he was...distracted...

Sasuke was a silent witness to the Pein invasion,he didnt help either side(he does hate Konoha after all) but he also didnt attack or anything.

And that is where my story diverges from canon.

Personalities:

Hinata in my story has the same personality as her creator intended, shes kind,generous, a bit too quick to forgive but she has obviously grown up and so despite continuing to be shy,she is not devastatingly so.

Sasuke is as complicated as i'm sure Kishimoto intended.

I have always found him a very interesting character, because as ruthless as he is when working towards his goals,he maintains a soft spot towards a few people and oddly this soft spot also seems to increase or decrease at various points within the Anime/Manga.

It is that is the aspect of him that i want to explore, the fact that his life experiences are so terrible and so traumatic that they must definitely have damaged his psyche irreparably. I believe that there may even be moments when they overwhelm him and turn him into something he can not control( we see that with his cursed seal also).

Underneath it all,he is just our favourite lonely,lost,damaged avenger ,waiting to be saved.

*end authors note*

* * *

Even before knowing that her captor was The Last Uchiha himself , Hinata had realised her prison would be a difficult one to break from.

Combined with her acute dehydration and exhaustion it had proved impossible.

Now, with sasuke watching her every move like a hawk, Hinata knew she was doomed.

Strangely though, her mind-numbing fear of him had abated rather than increased after he had claimed ownership of her.

Those words had been of a mad man but it had been Sasuke's behaviour after the proclamation that forced Hinata to relax against her initial instinct.

They had stayed in their respective positions for a while , Hinata warily watching the obviously insane rogue ninja as sasuke stood eyeing her across the room.

Finally after what seemed like hours of staring, nature won the battle(as it always does) and Hinata muttered a mortified curse before hesitantly murmuring to the most dangerous man in the shinobi world ' A-ano, I need the washroom.'

Sasuke's eyes narrowed suspiciously and the staring continued.

Silence reigned.

When Hinata was sure she would have to resort to something desperate, Sasuke gave a short nod and flicked his head in the direction of the hall way.

He waited until she was standing in the doorway before coming up silently behind her, wordlessly forcing her to move ahead.

She involuntarily flinched every time he came too close and with an uncharacteristic snort Sasuke immediately withdrew from her personal space.

He sounded like a mad man, he acted like a mad man but for some inexplicable reason Hinata realised , he was unwilling to scare her.

Once they had reached somewhere in the middle of the corridor , Sasuke felt along the jagged rock surface and pressed on a spot on the wall .

Slowly a huge section receded and revealed a hidden archaic wash room.

With a curt',I'm waiting outside' the piece of wall was replaced and Hinata was left standing mercifully alone in the dark cavity.

When Hinata emerged she was resigned to her fate.

There was no way she could think of to escape Sasukes prison.

Not only did it seem impenetrable but he was just too strong, too powerful to defeat one on one.

The only thing she could do was wait for him to make a mistake, even if all she was able to do was send a message asking for help.

Upon deciding on this course of action Hinata also decided that it would be wise not to antagonise the Uchiha.

Maybe playing along to his insanity would make him lower his guard towards her.

So when Sasuke followed Hinata to the sparse 'bedroom' and adopted a straight back guard position near the door Hinata didn't say anything.

Despite her wilding thumping heart and raw nerves she ignored his savage scrutiny and settled on the bed feeling much more in control after being able to remove some of the grime on her.

She was a kunouchi, and kunoichi don't just fight, they fight smart.

She didn't say anything when some time later as lay in bed succumbing to her fatigue, she became aware of Sasukes face mere inches from hers, his warm breath wafting on her face as he whispered her name.

'Hinata.'

She didn't say anything when hours after she had fallen asleep, she was woken up with a harsh nudge to her shoulder, to see Sasuke standing over her, only a jerk of his head indicating that he wanted her to follow.

She didn't say anything when he led her back to the kitchen(cavern) ,to the ledge where she saw fresh bread sitting atop the counter.

And she didn't say anything when all of a sudden she felt his large hands ghost along her waist, chest pressed up against her back , his nose buried in the crook of her neck.

No, she didn't say anything,

instead,

she attacked.


	11. Chapter 11

And was thrown across the room for all her troubles.

Sasuke was on her in a flash, hand in a death grip on her neck, squeezing out her breath.

She was choking, running out of air, clawing futilely at his manic hold on her throat, staring into Sasuke's crazed eyes that were swirling with all of his madness as he bore down on her.

'Sasu-'

All of a sudden he released her and was gone.

He disappeared for days.

Hinata spent the first few trying to figure out how he entered and exited the network of caves, feeling carefully along the entire expanse of her prison and incidentally discovering the portion Sasuke had pressed for the washroom.

Besides that one discovery she was stumped.

Aware of the folly of starving herself, Hinata rationed the last subsistence he had left on the counter , unsure when and if Sasuke would be returning.

Her heart jumped into her throat when one night she turned in the bed to find him crouched next to her, staring at a point on her neck with a troubled frown.

She stayed as still as possible for as long as she could, staring back at him, body tight in fear, acutely aware of how vulnerable she was.

Slowly, Sasuke's eyes ventured up to her face and something in them ...softened.

He raised a hand painstakingly slowly, in an obvious effort not to startle her and the peculiarly discordant sweet and sugary smell of Dango wafted into Hinata's nose.

She stared in disbelief at the package in Sasuke's hand and looked back at his face in bewilderment.

He was glaring at the ground now, jaw spasmodically clenching and unclenching.

She continued to gawk at the apparent peace-offering until she heard the distinct sound of grinding teeth.

Not wanting to agitate him further , Hinata hurriedly reached out for the proffered bundle and took it.

Sasuke let go of the sweets as if they had burned him and without another look, stood up and left.

* * *

Pleaseeee read and review!thank you!


	12. Chapter 12

Authors note:

Hi everyone.

So I've been noticing that even though the viewership of this fic is going up, the response has been decreasing .I'm aware that SasuHIna is a saturated ship with many wonderful stories about these two out there already so I'm confused as to whether mine even should be continued. If you can drop a few words as you read,just to let me know if anyone is interested in it being finished , that would really help make my decision...

*end authors note*

* * *

*start flashback*

Sasuke wanted to break something.

No,he wanted to DEMOLISH something.

He stood panting in a clearing created by his own fury, trees decimated by his punches, animals long scared away by his ferocious roars.

'What is this girl doing to me?', sasuke fumed, rubbing a bleeding hand uncaringly across his face.

He had been cursed since the first time he had laid eyes on her, that forsaken moment in which she had attempted to sacrifice her life for that-that Dobe.

The sight of her had transported him to another time. To a memory long forgotten and buried under the blood and gore of his life.

 _The memory of a story_.

His mother had told them to him when he was a child, an impossible time when he had been too young to even realise bedtime stories were for civilians, not powerful Uchihas.

' _The kunoichi was strong and beautiful,'came his mothers soft, lilting voice,'with a heart as pure as gold._

 _She was loved by everyone who knew her and she loved them all just as fiercely. One day a demon came to attack her village, and everything was chaos._

 _Children cried and mothers screamed all around her._

 _The kunoichi, powerful and fierce ran forward without another thought in her mind, intent on distracting the demon and leading him away from her home and loved ones._

 _The villagers cried for her not to put herself in danger, she couldn't beat the demon alone, she wasn't strong enough , she would surely die they had sobbed. But the warrior had only given them a comforting smile as she ran bleeding and bruised, away from the village, the terrible demon hot at her tail. For this kunoichi knew a secret only the strongest, most powerful ninja knew, and only the bravest could practice._

 _'When you fight for the ones you love, you can never lose.'_

When he had seen Hinata standing with her eyes and hands blazing, face set in iron determination , facing down a foe that had killed many much stronger than her, in a fatalistic effort to protect the orange idiot, willing and knowing she would surely die; he had temporarily regressed to his childhood, listening to his mother's stories of goodness and love, unaware of the horrors of the real world..

Safe at home.

The moment had passed as quickly as it had arrived and he had angrily tossed the story aside like so much rubbish he didn't have use for.

But try as he might, he hadn't been able to cast the girl from his mind.

And so he had given in, searching for her, not quite sure why, considering that maybe killing her would get her out of his brain, all he had known for sure was that he had to find her.

That had been three years ago.

A lifetime had passed since then.

And now,he had had another chance.

She was in his house, in his bed.

and what did he do?

He strangled her.

 **BOOM**

With another snarl of frustration, Sasuke razed a nearby hill to rubble.

Finally coming to a decision, he left for the nearest village.

*end flashback*

And now he was here, in his kitchen, waiting for her response to his olive branch.

He absentmindedly tapped his fingers on the shelf before noticing this betrayal by his own body and immediately halting.

He was in the process of glaring at his treacherous digits and considering self mutilation when soft footsteps padded towards the room and Hinata hesitantly crossed the doorway.

Observing her as she slowly entered the cavern, Sasuke was struck by the same thought that mystified him time and again.

 **What was it about her?**

What part of her made his heart yearn for her in desperation, had allowed her to take over what was left of his soul?

She was nothing..exceptional.

He had had many exotic, luscious females throw themselves at him over the years.

He had even used a few when he needed to.

And discarded them as he always did.

There had never been space in his life for another human, let alone a woman.

 **Then what was it about this one?**

She wasn't even especially strong, he mused, that he had discovered the very first time they met.

She had crumpled into his genjetsu with almost laughable ease.

It was nothing physical...at least it hadnt been at the start.

'No,' he thought,' it has always been her beautiful mind'.

His first mistake had been entering her consciousness two years ago, a few months after Pein had been defeated and she had finally left the village on a solo mission.

At that point he had merely been wanting to punish this _stranger_ for the audacity to invade his thoughts.

He hadn't had the slightest idea where it would lead.

 ***cough***

Sasuke was jerked out of his ruminations by the sound.

He looked up to see that Hinata had taken her stand at the location farthest from him and had chakra flickering at her fingertips.

She had also activated her blood line limit.

'Ah, he thought,' the famous Hyuuga Byakugan '

It was the first time he had had that directed at him, usually any hyuuga who dared fight him didn't even have time to activate it before he destroyed them.

Drawing a long-suffering breath Sasuke advanced towards his skittish obsession.

* * *

Hinata's heart was thundering in her ears,

She had understood the Dango was a peace offering of some sort, but she was in no mood to continue this game.

If he wanted to end her so be it, but she would not be caught unprepared again.

However...now that he was ambling towards her with the slow, graceful stride of a predator , Hinata acknowledged bleakly that she had made a mistake, in her fury forgetting who she was up against.

' I am a Hyuuga,' Hinata thought furiously, squaring her shoulder and settling into a fighting stance ,' I will not be imprisoned like an animal, I will be free or die fighting.'

Abruptly Sasuke drew to a halt mere feet from her.

'You don't remember me.', he said softly.

Hinata frowned and continued to watch his limbs for the slightest indication of movement.

'We've known each other for years now, little bird, don't you remember?'

And something in his words triggered a bone-deep weariness in her, Hinata felt her strength fade as a fierce headache began to form.

She looked up to see the Uchiha's tomoe spinning furiously, and she knew she had lost the fight before it had even begun.


	13. Chapter 13

They were standing in a field of wildflowers.

Hinata stumbled on the unfamiliar ground.

In front of her, the menace of the Shinobi world, the Uchiha survivor, was resting languidly on a patch of grass with his eyes closed

and he looked almost...asleep.

She watched with cautious mistrust for a few tense seconds.

Slowly,laboriously, Sasuke opened his eyes.

They were sharp and alert.

Hinata was about to jump back into position when she heard his lowered voice cross the distance towards her,

'Stop. You are safe.'

A pause before,' This is your territory. We are in your mind.'

Hinata froze,'N-nani? My m-mind?'

Sasuke only closed his eyes again in response.

Hinata quickly looked around at her surroundings.

It was a field. And it was...somehow familiar.

There were wildflowers swaying in an invisible breeze, a pond of crystal clear water visible at a distance ,a stream winding slowly into the pond.

'This isn't real', thought Hinata, noticing that though the setting was beautiful, the breeze that was moving the flowers failed to touch her skin and the stream flowing past her made no sound.

So sasuke had put her into a genjutsu when she had looked at him in the cavern.

But...why were they here? And why was he just ...sitting there.

While these thoughts scurried through Hinata's harried mind, she couldn't help but be mystified further by her kidnapper.

Sasuke looked...peaceful.

He seemed oddly at home in her mind(if it really was hers) resting there on the illusionary grass, one arm swung lazily atop his drawn-in knee while the other rested next to his outstretched leg.

'Come here Hinata,' said Sasuke, in that same languorous tone.

Silence.

'Tch', the Uchiha scoffed when Hinata showed no inclination to budge.

With a startlingly uncharacteristic sigh, sasuke seemed to shake himself out of his meditative state and rearranged his body into an upright posture.

Fixing Hinata with a piercing look the rogue shinobi asked,'Do you not remember this place?, frowning in annoyance when Hinata only responded with silence.

'It is where I-where we first met', Sasuke said, smoothly skipping over what he had originally meant to say.

Growing steadily more convinced of the Uchiha's insanity Hinata slowly shook her head ,'I-I have never met you before Uchiha-San.'

Hearing the echo of what she had told Tsunade many months ago Hinata quivered with the strength of her righteous anger. Forcing herself to continue Hinata said,'Hokage Sama alerted me that you had been torturing me for years,it was within Genjutsu wasn't it? '

Sasuke's eyes widened for a split second before narrowing.

'Torture?', he asked through gritted teeth.

Instantly wary of his rising ire , Hinata reluctantly responded,' Hai. You tried to kill me. Tsunade-Sama is the only reason I am alive. She-she told me you had been invading my mind without my knowledge, for kami knows how long! You had been torturing me, stealing my memories, making me betray my village and my loved ones,you stole my confidence as a Ninja,you murderer!,'

Growing steadily angrier as she remembered the shock and revulsion she had felt when she had discovered how her mind had been violated, Hinata activated her byakugan and spun into Eight trigrams Sixty Four Palms before she had even finished her sentence,'YOU STOLE MY DIGNITY' and rushed forward.

In a second ,Sasuke was behind her ,her blazing hands pulled back, immobilised within his own.

'That is enough,' he uttered into her ear, gripping her more strongly the harder she struggled.

'Your Hokage-Sama is an idiot,' came the clipped words near her ear,'I was not **torturing** you , I was not **spying** on you or your village or your teammates,' Sasuke spat ', I was visiting you. Visiting you in your mind as I always did , where we met without interruption, as you always wanted.'

Hinata spun around , wrenching her arms violently from his grasp, trying to land a hit as he evaded her almost effortlessly,'You. Are. Lying' she said through gritted teeth.

The next instant she was on the ground , on her back, hands caught in his on either side of her body as Sasuke hovered over her furious face.

'I forgot how strong your mind can be, even in denial. I thought once I brought you here, to this place, your memories would return on their own. But no, you are suppressing them,' murmured Sasuke. He looked almost hurt as he gazed into her eyes ,'Hinata, little bird, why won't you let your self remember?'

And then, before she even knew what was happening,he kissed her.


	14. Chapter 14

Three years worth of memories came rushing into her in a disorienting flood.

A solo mission, the field with the wildflowers,a savage Sasuke, his spinning eyes, his erratic questions,

' **Who are you?**

Why did you sacrifice yourself?Who is naruto to you?

Her fear,confusion.

'I -I am Hyuuga Hinata, and I don't owe you any answers ,'

His disdain and disappearance.

* * *

An empty courtyard,Sasuke, spinning eyes,

'So, you're the Hyuuga heir...'

'W-what?How?Release me or fight!'

'Tch'

* * *

A horde of charred bodies,Sasuke,spinning eyes,

'Why are you doing this?!Why did you interfere!I could have fought them!'

'You were losing..'

* * *

The edge of a lake,Sasuke,spinning eyes,

'T-this is genjustu?'

Hn

'Why..?'

A frustrated pause.

'I don't know.'

* * *

The slope of a hill,Sasuke,spinning eyes,

A conversation.

Understanding, comprehension, _compassion_.

* * *

A desert, Sasuke, spinning eyes,

'You're b-back...'

A grunt.

'A-Ano where were you Uchiha-san?'

'Why?Did you miss me?'

* * *

A cottage,Sasuke,spinning eyes,

Disgust.

'You look ridiculous'

A hesitant giggle.

'It's a wig Uchiha-san.I'm under disguise.'

'Hideous'

Silence.

'Sasuke'

'Umm?'

'Not Uchiha-san. Just Sasuke.'

'O-oh'

* * *

An empty training ground, Sasuke, spinning eyes,

'Why did you do it?',

'Hmmm?Do what, Sasuke-kun?'

'Sacrifice yourself for that dobe.'

Silence.

'N-Naruto-kun is-he is important to me.'

Anger.

'He is NOTHING to you.'

* * *

A room, Sasuke, spinning eyes,

'I'm warning you,go away!'

'Why is he important to you?'

'Y-you're mean. Leave me alone!'

A gasp.

A kiss.

* * *

A stream ,Sasuke,spinning eyes,

FURY.

HOW **DARE** YOU!'

A snort.

'HOW.

 **Punch**

DARE YOU.

 **Punch**

TAKE MY.

 **Punch**

FIRST

KI-mmph

* * *

The side of a road, a fallen teammate, Sasuke, spinning eyes,

A sob.

'I-Its my fault.I couldn't * **sob*** save her'

A sigh ,'Hinata...'

* * *

An oak tree,Sasuke, spinning eyes,

'Sasuke-kun?'

Hn

'I-I no longer want to forget'

* * *

The field of wildflowers,Sasuke,spinning eyes,

'And then, Harumi-san asked me if I was alright, and I said of course I was, but she wouldn't believe me and she forced me to go to the hospital and told the nurse I had a fever because I wouldn't stop blushing and they took my tempera-'

'You're like a bird'

'N-nani?'

'A bird.

You never stop chirping.'

A blush and a mumble,'Its your fault I had to go to the hospital Sasuke-kun.'

A snort.

'A little bird.'

'Sasuke-kunnn!'

* * *

The edge of a cliff, Sasuke,spinning eyes,

Comfort.

Companionship.

 **Home**.

* * *

A campsite, Sasuke, spinning eyes,

'I have a mission Sasuke-kun'

Hn

'I need to rest...'

'You are resting.'

A giggle.

'I'm in a genjutsu Sasuke-kun. My mind is under strain, that's not resting..'

Hurt.

'Do you **want** to leave?'

Softly..'Never.'

* * *

A sunrise,Sasuke,spinning eyes,

'Have you ever seen anything more wonderful, Sasuke-kun ?'

'Yes.'

A pause.

'You.'

A gasp and a giggle.

* * *

A hut,thunder and lightning, Sasuke, spinning eyes,

'EEP!'

'You're scared of the thunder. '

'Umm.'

'Ridiculous...'

A pause.

'Y-you're not?'

'It's where I belong.'

'Then...neither am I'

* * *

The field of wildflowers , Sasuke, spinning eyes,

'Sasuke-kun, do you think..in another life... do you think we could live here?'

'Yes.'

* * *

Under the stars, Sasuke, spinning eyes,

'Why are you so quiet today, little bird?'

Silence.

'Hmm?'

'Hyuuga!'

'I-I don't know.'

* * *

In her tent,Sasuke,spinning eyes,

'Sasuke!What-What are you doing here!My teammates will sense you!'

'You have been hiding from me, why?'

Silence.

'ANSWER ME.'

A sob.

'I-I can't do this. You're a missing nin,meeting you like this...I shouldn't, I-I can't'

Silence.

'Sasuke, please, if-if I mean anything to you, come back to Konoha with me. **Please** '

Viciously..' **Never**.'

* * *

A forest, Sasuke, his spinning gaze,

Desperation.

'Hinata, come with me.'

'W-what?'

'Come with me, I lo-you have to come with me. NOW'

Crying.

'Sasuke, you know I can't! I-I don't understand, why are you doing this?'

A body being pushed against a tree.

'I said, _come . with. me_.'

'Sasuke-kun...Please...'

'Come with me.

'I-I'm sorry. I ***sob*** I can't'

 **Rage**

'Come.

with.

Me.'

 ***Gasping***

 ***Choking***

'Come with me...Or Die!'

'I would ***gasp*** gladly die but I-I won't betray my * **gasp** * village.'

 **RAGE**

'THEN DIE!'


	15. Chapter 15

Authors note:

Tolitir, Wink 11,Uchiho-Yumiko chan : Thank you for your kind words. I can only hope you continue to enjoy ^ .^

Kayna96: sigh a broken Sasuke is a terrible terrible boyfriend.

Behla :Hi! i absolutely love your detailed,insightful make me consider aspects of the story and tweak them in a better way to make things gel and thats the best thing an author could get from their readers.

Thank you everyone!Enjoy

* * *

Hinata gasped and pushed the avenger off of her.

'You!You tried to KILL ME!,' she cried out in horror as she put as much distance between her assailant and herself as she could.

A wave of fresh memories came over her and she shuddered in pain and anger.

'I thought you were hurting, I thought you were human, I thought you were my lo-

I was wrong! You-you're nothing but a MONSTER,' Hinata sobbed in disgust as she angrily wiped tears from her face.

Sasuke stood up slowly, face growing stormier as she spoke,eyes flashing red at her accusations.

His hands clenched into tight fists and just as she thought he would move to strike her, he looked down again and slowly opened his hands.

'You're right.'

Hinata froze, sure she had misheard.

Sasuke looked up again, eyes cold as ice.

And swirling behind their frozen wrath, she saw something she refused to accept was real.

She saw regret.

'I wanted to hurt you,' sasuke said quietly,'I almost killed you.

I lost control and ..you lay cold and pale in front of me,' Sasukes hand spasmed and clenched over his chest ,'That sight has burned behind my eyes Hinata. It has haunted me, haunted my nights,my days and I can never forget it.I almost lost you forever once, and the pain-,'he broke off, seeming unable to continue.

Just as her treacherous heart was softening towards this broken, damaged man, Sasuke straightened and looked at her with all his madness renewed 'I almost lost you once Hinata,' he repeated menacingly,' and I will never lose you again. No matter what you do, no matter how hard you try. **There is no escape**. From today until the end, you are **only** and **forever**...

 **mine.'**


	16. Chapter 16

'Enough'

—-

They were back in the cave, the genjutsu dispelled.

Sasuke glaring balefully at his prisoner as she trembled with the intensity of her contradictory emotions.

He-he was **mad**.

' _Sasuke-kun_..'

She **hated** him.

She had **loved** him.

He was a **monster.**

He was **hers**

 **He hurt her.**

(It hurt **him more** )

 **She could have died.**

He would have **died with her .**

'AAAH!LEAVE ME ALONE!', Hinata yelled throwing her hands to her throbbing head.

There was too much. Too much filling her mind.

The love, the hate, the **fear** , it was overwhelming and she hated him for this.

She didn't **want to remember.**

 **Why couldn't Sasuke leave her alone!**

Tears were streaming uncontrollably down Hinata's face as she violently shook her head.

'No,no,no,no,NO!', she screamed.

'Hina-', Sasuke said, stepping forward.

'NO!,'

Unable to bear the sight of his **hateful** face , Hinata swerved on her heels and ran back to her room, shuddering sobs escaping her throat.

She ran blindly through the corridor , catching her heel on the uneven floor, uncaring of the scrapes to her hands, to her knees as she stumbled.

She just had to get away from him.

—

She felt his presence in the doorway multiple times , a shadow looming into the room and on her heart.

She thought he whispered her name once, but after waiting a few minutes for the reply he should have **known** would not come,he left.

The longer she sat there on the cold stony floor, head on her knees, the slower the reminders battered on her mind.

Until finally the deluge settled to a silent ooze leaving behind a mess of emotion.

He had been her first kiss, Hinata thought wonderingly.

Sasuke Uchiha, the man whose name struck fear into the hearts of shinobi , had stolen her first kiss, and many more after. And she had let him...

The people in her memories.

They seemed different somehow.

Less..fractured

More hopeful...more...

whole.

Where had they gone wrong?

She knew **exactly** where.

It was at the moment she had realised that the reality within her mind would never ever be able to coincide with the reality of their lives.

It had broken her heart, but he,

He had broken her soul.

After all, he had always said he was cursed

And maybe...by loving him as deeply as she did ,

as desperately as she did, she had been cursed too.


	17. Chapter 17

Authors note:If anyone can tell me a word for Regret in Japanese I will be eternally grateful.I have found 'Kokai' please let me know if its close enough to make sense.

thank you!

* * *

'I'm leaving'

Silence.

'Sasu-UchihaSan.

I.

Am.

Leaving.'

'No.'

—-

They were at a stalemate.

In the enclosed space in the middle of Kami knew where,

Hinata and her captor were running around in circles, she leaving every one of the two rooms he was in, he growingly more and more irritated and **trying** to pretend he wasn't **following her.**

' I will never forgive you if that's what you want'

'I dont'

'Then what do you want!?'

'You.'

—-

Thud.

'Let go of me!'

'No'

And just like that , he stole a kiss from her again.

Hinata wanted to push him, this should not be happening ,not after what he had done, what she had forgotten and remembered.

He was nothing to her, he was a monster, hateful and violent and **mad.**

But , even when Sasuke's aggressive hold on her wrists had relaxed **,** as his mouth changed from bruising kisses to soft, familiar caresses, as his thumb stroked smooth circles on the back of hand, even as their fingers started to slowly intertwine between them , Hinata found she could not move away.

Kissing him felt like breathing, every movement of his lips a perfect mirror to her own, hot air mingling between them, his taste like smoke, strong and abrasive, _familiar and comforting_.

Sasuke's hand gently broke off from hers, moving slowly, up her arm, sliding past her waist, making her shiver as it lingered on the side of her chest, before continuing up her shoulder and coming to rest on her neck.

Hinata's eyes shot open and she shoved against him with a cry and the great Uchiha stumbled in his surprise.

* **Slap** *

The sound resounded around the cavern,amplifying and echoing.

The silence was deafening.

Sasuke stood stock still, cheek scarlet where she had struck him.

When he looked up at her , his eyes were red with madness.

And then,

suddenly, inexplicably they were black.

Closing his eyes, Sasuke inhaled deeply as Hinata watched with bated breath, her heart stuck in her throat.

He seemed to be restraining himself, body quaking with suppressed rage.

Without another glance, he left.

—

Days passed.

He left to train at night, she realised.

Every morning she woke up, he would be sitting on his rugs , bandaging various parts of his body, alternating between hands, legs, and once even a large gash on his torso.

They lived in silence , neither able to bend , scared only to break.

She would walk in to the cavern, mouth opening and closing , words unable to escape.

He would ignore her.

She would shake her head and silently walk out.

One night she dreamt of wildflowers.

 _She was lying beside her love, her tacit, frustrating, endearing love. She had been trying to get him into conversation for hours and he had responded in grunts or not at all._

' _Sasuke-kun , please reply to me in more than two words if you can? I kn-know you know them,' she had cheekily teased him, knowing it would get a rise out of him._

 _He had scoffed and playfully poked her nose._

 _And she had blinked._

 _Maybe her Sasuke-kun wasn't so predictable after all ,she had thought smiling as she snuggled back into his arms,_

 _Conversation could wait._

Something about that memory, the memory of her sasuke-kun, the softer one, the calmer one broke her heart all over again.

She yearned to go back.

To find him, to heal him.

Where did her Sasuke go?

* * *

'Starving yourself won't work'

Silence.

'If you die, you'll die here, with me'

'I hate you.'

— —-—

A few days after she had abandoned her futile plan of death by starvation ,she sighed and decided this had continued long enough

They were acting like children.

They needed to talk.

So down she went, into his territory ( the washroom was implicitly shared, her bedroom her own)

'Uchiha-san, we need to talk', she said standing in the entrance to the cavern, using the formal suffix knowing it irked him.

He was practicing katas in the large hollow and it made her realise how much she missed her training.

He was flowing through the poses with his eyes closed, moving fluidly from one to another as smoothly as water, each jab accurate and deadly.

'Uchiha-san!', she tried again.

His brow furrowed in annoyance.

'Uchi-,'her call remained stuck in her throat when he suddenly appeared in front of her, glaring.

Clearing her throat, she tried again,'Uchiha-san, I-I no longer wish to continue this farce. I want to leave and you have to let me.

I-I refuse to spend the rest of my life in a cat and mouse game with you. Please let us forget the past and discuss this calmly.

Please, you have to let me go.'

'Ok.'

Hinata blinked.

'Oh kay...?'

'You can leave.'

Silence.

Hinata peered into his face, unable to believe it could be this easy.

Hesitantly she said,'Oh...Thank y-'

'You can leave ...when you're pregnant.'

Hinata recoiled in horror,'N-NANI?'

She looked at him in rising panic, searching for a sign to prove the monotonous declaration had been just what she thought it must be...a badly delivered jest.

Sasuke stalked towards her as she backed desperately into the wall.

He continued coming until the stone wall was painfully digging into her back, so close she felt his breath hit her as he spoke, ' You want to leave right, Hyuuga?Fine,'he said shrugging nonchalantly,' Give me a child and you will.'

Hinata stared at him in shock.

'Have you...you must be mad,' she retorted in disbelief.

Sasuke scoffed,'I refuse to let you go and you won't stay with me .Give me **your** child and you can go.'

The deafening silence was absolute and lingering only broken by Hinata's horrified declaration, ' I would die before I have a child with **you!'**

All of a sudden his deceptively calm eyes flashed and sasuke grabbed her face with one hand, the other, squeezing tightly on her waist.

'Do not test me Hinata.', Sasuke ground out.

Hinata struggled and cried out ,'You are insane!',releasing a burst of chakra from her hands and pushing him away, immediately turning to leave.

His hand grabbed her arm and jerked her backwards, forcing her into the wall, as she winced, and tried to elbow past him.

'Get away from me!,' she said pushing at his chest as he grew more and more incensed .

Suddenly he pressed his body into his.

She drew her hand back and slapped him.

His large hands imprisoned her wrists.

She glared at him in fury , straining to retract her hands where he held them in a brutal hold.

He bent closer and she jerked her face away.

He hovered over her cheek before he bent and lazily kissed her at a point beneath her jaw.

She pushed against him and he fiercely kissed her again, under her jaw, on her neck, over her shoulder.

A sob wracked Hinata's body.

Sasuke froze.

As if emerging from a trance , Sasuke looked up slowly, taking in her tear stained face,her body shaking with helpless anger.

He flinched , recoiling from her, the haze clearing instantly from his eyes 'Hinata I- I'm s-'.

She sobbed and ran away from him into her room.

—


	18. Chapter 18

Authors note:

Sasuke is a terrible, damaged character, but he would never force himself on her sexually.

Non-consensual intimacy is not acceptable in any shape or form.

* * *

She wouldn't leave her room.

Every day a new package would be placed in her doorway.

A bundle of clothes.

Dango.

Shuriken.

Clothes.

Sandals.

Food.

Tea

Clothes.

A bouquet.

Food.

Uniform.

Something was fluttering against her cheek.

Hinata begrudgingly opened her eyes,

to see a beak and two beady eyes looking at her.

She stilled.

It was a canary, tiny and yellow.

Hinata rubbed her eyes.

'Wha-?'

The small fowl nipped her nose.

'Ow!'

Wide awake now, Hinata sat up and stared at the apparition.

The...bird...chirped at her and she hesitantly bent down and stroked its head.

There was a ribbon tied to its leg, with only one word imprinted on it.

Kokai.

 **Regret**.

Hinata slumped back into her bed, unable to look at the bird (and what it was trying to say).

She wasn't ready to forgive Sasukes behaviour.

Not yet. Not ever.

Hinata shook her head.

And turning her head away from the cheerful, innocent, horrid bird she cried herself to sleep.

The gifts continued.

A portrait of a sunset.

Dango.

Wildflowers.

Their scent made her weep.


	19. Chapter 19

'Hinata...'

Sasuke crouched on the edge of her bed,

'Forgive me...'

His hand brushed against her hair and she curled into herself.

The hand immediately withdrew.

—-

He was gone.

There had been no packages.

Hinata hadn't even noticed.

Only realising his absence when kokai chattered anxiously at her.

Thinking hazily for a few minutes , Hinata realised the little fledgling was hungry.

That meant...

It meant no one had been feeding her.

She ignored Kokai for as long as she could until finally her heart gave in.

With a sigh she forced herself to sit up and padded heavily into the cavern.

It was empty.

Hinata walked around absentmindedly, finding some crumbs that she offered to the bird.

Running her hand along the rough ledge Hinata's gaze settled on the rugs.

He still slept on those she realised.

They were just ragged bits of clothes piled of top of each other, not doing anything to cushion the jutted rock beneath.

And yet...

That's where he slept.

Over time she had surmised that these caves were Sasuke hideout after he went rogue, which meant the sparse furnishings here had been fitted for himself,

Which **meant** the bed and room she had taken for hers had originally been his...

And despite capturing her from her home, manhandling her ,and keeping her here as a prisoner at his mercy for countless months...he had never attempted to invade her space...to reclaim his property.

Even before the...incident.

Instead ...

he slept on sheets haphazardly thrown on the uneven floor.

Hinata sighed.

The old sasuke had been complicated already.

The new one...an enigma.

He was erratic, insensible, violent.

The old one had been angry, lost, **hurting**.

Hinata wasn't ignorant enough to not have realised the role she had played in tipping him over the edge.

The old Sasuke ,a damaged, lost man had begrudgingly come into her life, and she had recklessly promised him the stability and comfort he never had.

He had softened towards her and she had been euphoric.

They had planned on building their life together, recovering from their traumas, finding safety in each other. **Healing**.

And without any explanation, any warning, she had left him, betrayed him, chosen her village over him, over his love.

* * *

When he attacked her consciousness she had seen all of his fury...

But she had also seen his despair.

They always met in her world , he never let her into his.

And that day she had discovered why...

His mind was a dark, desecrated place , full of terrible demons she had naively imagined had been slain just because he had hidden them from her.

And when they all came at her in crimson rage , her mind hadn't been able to handle it.

It had fractured.

And sasuke had **lived** with that all of his life.

* * *

Hinata had always been too soft.

Her father had told her so in disgust, Neji-nii san said it , the whole village knew and whispered it behind her back.

She was too soft tfor the shinobi world and... she couldn't help it.

She always fought for her village, for naruto , for a **cause.**

She was a shield.

She didn't relish in hurting, she fought to protect.

And she had failed to protect sasuke...

Sasuke,who had been wounded by life time and time again.

His family murdered in front of his eyes.

The betrayal by blood.

The betrayal of the village.

She had failed to protect him.

She had never understood what made him hate Konoha so vehemently, always assuming it was a part of who he was,a lashing out against the remnants of past trauma.

But when he had unleashed his mind, she had seen the truth.

The truth about Itachi.

And Itachis sacrifice.

She had seen Sasuke's agony, his devastation when he had discovered the schemes the 'supposed' Uchiha traitor had carefully thwarted , the endless devotion towards his village and towards his brother that Itachi had concealed from his otoutou , his little brother who had risen...only to kill him with his own hands.

And in the midst of all the maddening pain...

Hinata had seen herself.

As Sasuke saw her.

 **A messiah. His saviour.**

But she had rejected him...salvation had scorned him once again.

Like everyone else in his life **(over and over and over and over)** she had chosen the village over him.

Her heart ached with understanding.

With the comprehension of what that had done to him.

She hadn't known.

How **could** she have known?

Her sasuke was gone now.

And she didnt know how to bring him

back.

* * *

Authors note: In my story Kokai=Regret

It fit nicely so some creative liberties had to be taken.

I am aware that it is inaccurate so apologies in advance.

Much love!


	20. Chapter 20

**BOOM**

The ground thundered and shook beneath her feet.

Hinata froze, eyes flicking to the basin as the water sloshed over the edge with the shockwave.

'Earthquake...?', Hinata thought in a panic.

She was trapped. In an underground cavern, with no escape, and no sight of the one man who knew how to get out of it.

A huge chunk of roof fell where Hinata had been standing, and she lunged.

It crashed into the ledge, breaking it apart.

The walls were caving in.

Hinata turned immediately, whipped into action,running along the the walls feeling for any piece of her prison that had dislodged enough for her to get out of it.

Another chunk fell, clipping her outstretched left arm as it passed.

Hinata hissed.

Holding her battered limb to her chest, Hinata quickly assessed her situation.

She was trapped.

The ceiling was collapsing and there was no sign of sky above.

The cavern must be deep underground and it was going to collapse on top of her.

Panicked chirping interrupted her analysis.

Kokai!

She ran through the corridor , running, running as the roof broke off in pieces all around her.

The bird was fluttering haphazardly around the room, dodging rocks.

'Kokai!'

Hinata surged chakra under her feet and jumped upward, catching the canary carefully between her hands.

The terrified bird clawed and bit her but settled quickly as Hinata muttered soft,comforting words at the her.

The fowl safely ensconced within her hands, Hinata resumed her frantic search for an exit.

BOOM.

In front of her horrified eyes , a giant crack appeared in the far wall and the whole side of cave started grinding inwards.

'Chirp , chirp , chirp.'

Kokai was quivering in her hands, nipping at her fingers in alarm.

Hinata shifted the fowl to her bruised left hand and focused her chakra into the right , rotating with increasing speed, a dome of chakra enveloping her and kokai and protecting them from debris.

'HINATA!, a roar reached her ears.

Hinata's concentration broke for a millisecond and a huge chunk of rock slipped through the flickering dome and smashed into her right shoulder.

Hinata yelped in shock and her protective shell shattered.

'AAAH,' cried out Hinata as a torrent of rocks rained down on them, the pain making her fall to the ground.

Unable to regain her balance Hinata fell to her knees, panting, her now useless right arm lagging on the ground , pulling her left close to her body ,Kokai chirping wildly with fear.

A boulder knocked her onto her back and she huddled immediately onto her left side trying to shelter kokai with her torso, the downpour of rocks continuing to fall on her.

Until it stopped.

Looking up in shock, she saw him.

Sasuke , eyes scrunched in effort, hovering over her and Kokai, his body stretched out to cover them, a blue glow emanating from his body.

He grunted as a rock battered against his shield of chakra.

She stared at him, confused.

'Sasu-sasuke?'

Sasuke bent under the sudden weight of a stone block that had fallen on his back, his dome of energy flickering, his arms trembling with exertion next to her head.

'Forgive me. ' he hissed, opening his eyes.

Hinata gasped when she saw they were bleeding.

His face was a mess.

There were scrapes and cuts all over it , and the side of his head was matted with fresh blood.

'Hin... a...ta...forg..ive me, 'Sasuke forced out hoarsely,desperately.

Hinata hesitated, the blood loss making her light headed, unable to think clearly past the blinding agony of her arm.

Sasuke's body lurched and the distance between them shortened, Sasuke's face less than a fingers breadth from hers, his eyes going in and out of focus, drops of blood from his eyes falling onto her face.

'Hinata ,' Sasuke whispered, his breath mingling with hers,'I...

I...I love..you.'

Hinatas sobbed, broken.

She wanting to reach for him, her fractured, damaged, tortured love ,wanted to wipe the blood leaking down his face, like tears of pain.

A jagged rock broke through his barrier and hit her cheek, cutting it open.

With an outraged growl , Sasuke forced more chakra out of his pores, retracting the dome from around himself ,focusing it around her.

Letting his body be pelted freely with rocks.

She gasped, understanding what he was doing.

'Sasuke!No!'

His eyes were growing hazy, Sasuke shook his head as if to clear it.

Staring dejectedly at her bleeding cheek, sasuke closed his eyes and muttered again harshly, shudderingly ,'Forgive me... my little bird.'

'I love you,' she cried.

As if the moon breaking free from behind a cloud, his brow cleared, his beautiful, battered visage settling into a terrifying expression of peace.

He touched his forehead lightly to hers, keeping all his weight of her ,on his shaking limbs.

'Remember me...', he whispered.

Sasuke's eyes gazed hazily into hers as he slowly pulled in the last remnants of his energy and with a roar of ultimate effort, he **pushed.**


	21. Chapter 21

The sun's rays grated harshly on Hinata's sensitive eyes.

She blinked furiously, getting her bearings.

They were outside, in the open.

And it was a massacre.

Bodies lay strewn all around, charred, mangled.

Cloud ninja.

A battle had raged above her prison and she hadn't even known.

The smell of burned, rotting flesh and charred metal filled the air, as well as the familiar scent of lightning.

Lightning.

SASUKE.

Hinata whirled around, searching frantically for the Uchiha.

A chirping filled her ear and she saw kokai jumping around a body.

Running towards it, she froze.

Sasuke wasn't breathing.

'No...,'Hinata breathed.

'Nonononomo,'she whispered, tears streaming from her eyes as she ran towards him.

She frantically grabbed his wrist, it was cold and pulseless.

Hinata sat still.

' _I love you...'_

Hinata straightened,face set with determination .

No.

This time she would save him.

This time she would **not** give up on him.

'Byakugan!', Hinata activated her blood line limit , eyes frantically searching sasuke's cold body for any signs of life.

'Please, kami, please,' Hinata prayed, fervently looking for something , anything she could hold on to.

He couldn't leave her.

Not now.

Not after...

' _I love you...'_

Hinata squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to let the tears fall.

Hastily wiping the ones that escaped, she grabbed Sasuke's hands between hers, rubbing his icy fingers with her own, eyes quickly flitting over his body.

There!

She saw it, a tendril of chakra, coiled tightly around his silent heart.

Focusing healing chakra into her fingertips , she carefully positioned them on top of his chest and thrust the energy into his heart.

Ba-dum.

His heart convulsed once.

Then stilled.

She pushed again.

Ba-dum.

Then...

Nothing.

Again. Again. Again.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

.

.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

Sasuke took a deep, gasping breath and Hinata smiled.


	22. Chapter 22

' _Sasuke-kun, do you think..?in another life... do you think we could live here?...'_

' _Yes.'_

* * *

Sasuke woke to the sound of someone humming.

The melody was soft, soothing.

It lulled him back to sleep.

.

.

'Anata...come back to me...', a soft voice cleared through the haze.

.

.

* * *

Something soft lay on his chest.

Sasukes eyes snapped open, Instantly alert.

He was in a room.

Sasuke's gaze flitted across , taking in details at lighting speed.

Two windows, one door: unguarded.

Sunlight: It was day, above ground.

No sounds :somewhere isolated.

His hands :unbound.

His hands...

He stared at the small palm clutching his.

Then at the silky jet black hair splayed across his torso.

Hi...nata.?

The weight on his chest stirred, he must have spoken out loud.

The hair lifted slowly and Hinata blinked up at him owlishly.

He stared back at her.

A gasp and the comforting warmth in his hand was withdrawn.

'Sasuke! You're awake!,' Hinata exclaimed , flying off her chair next to his bed and getting a jar of something from a table across the room, which she then started lathering across his chest, talking the whole time.

'Chirp''chirp''chirp'chirp''chirp''chirp'

' is that damned sound?,' forced sasuke through his hoarse throat.

Hinata clamped her mouth shut, a hurt look in her eyes.

'A-ano. Sorry,'

'Not you,' sasuke said,'the other sound.'

*chirp* *chirp* *chirp*

'Oh! Sasuke... that is...,'Hinata paused, unsure if she wanted to bring up the negative memories attached to the bird,' ...kokai...'

'Ah', Sasuke's brow furrowed, eyes narrowing.

Silence.

'You...

stayed...', he said turning to face her, peering into her face as she avoided his gaze, still putting the ointment on his scrapes and cuts.

'Sasuke, please stay till. Your were stabbed during the fight with the Cloud-nin and the wounds opened up while I was bringing you here.I just barely closed them are lucky to find this place.I got the herbs from the village, it isn't far but-'

'Hinata...', he caught her chin, interrupting her attempt at distraction , forcing her to look at him.

Why didn't you leave? he asked ,growing angry.

'You almost died... **again**... you should have...,' Sasuke broke off, frowning at the wall as if revisited by a terrible memory.

 _Training._

 _An ambush._

 _Fighting._

 _Chidori_

 _Blasts to the mountain._

 _Rumbling._

 _Hinata!_

 _Too many.._

 _He would be too late._

 _CHIDORI._

 _Hinata!_

 _Terror._

 _Falling walls._

 _A Battered body._

 _HINATA._

'You need to leave, Hinata,' Sasuke finished, abruptly turning away from her, glaring at the wall next to him.

From the periphery of his vision, Sasuke saw Hinata sigh, folding her hands in her lap.

'You need me', she said simply.

When he didn't reply he saw her get up slowly, wait for that damned bird to settle on her shoulder and exit the cottage.

—-

Sasuke was **furious**.

Once again,

fate was playing with him.

Like it always had.

Denying him everything he had ever wanted.

He found people who craved death as an escape contemptible...weak.

He hadn't used all of his life force to break them out of the cave-in because he had wanted **escape** , Sasuke scowled at the thought.

No, he had wanted **atonement**.

A sacrifice... to try and make up for all the times he had hurt her.

Over and over and over again.

But no.

That was too easy a repentance for someone like him. Too simple.

Fate wouldn't allow him that.

 **She** wouldn't allow him that.

—

Authors notes:Any views on mental health in this story are fictional/relevany to the psyche of a particular character and do not reflect the authors own.

Italics are memories.


	23. Chapter 23

'Where are you going?,'

She had returned.

This time holding a tray with a bowl of steaming broth in it .

Sasuke paused with his legs on the side of bed, hands and heart clenching at the sight of her.

'Go back Hinata.'

'Hmm,' Hinata murmured placatingly as she crossed the room and placed the tray on the bed, unloading mismatched dishes, breaking open chopsticks.

'Why won't you **Leave**!?',he barked suddenly, glaring at her.

Hinata looked back serenely.

'I'm not scared of you,' she whispered, bringing her hand up and lightly resting it on his face.

'You should be', Sasuke snarled.

'I love you.'

Sasuke scoffed, turning away to stand next to the window, arms clasped behind his bare back.

Hinata continued setting up the tray.

'Is this a game to you?', Sasuke, said softly, dangerously, head bent, looking at her with hooded eyes,' Does it amuse you to stay here? Reminding me of everything I did? Never letting me **forget**?'

Hinata froze, eyes narrowing, hands clenching on the sides of the tray.

Sasuke watched as she took a calming breath.

And ignored him.

'You should eat,'she said, tray arrayed with food items , settling back on her knees as she picked up a cup of tea and sipped.

Sasuke turned to face her but didn't move, leaning against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest.

After a few minutes Hinata said,'You said you would let me go...'If-if I gave..,'a slight blush rose on Hinata's cheeks,' if I gave you...a c-child...why?'

'I lied.'

Hinata frowned.

'It was a distraction. I knew you wouldn't stop trying to escape,' sasuke continued monotonously,' I thought with a child I could at least keep you for another nine months, before planning something else.'

A sharp intake of breath.

'Wo-would you have forced me?'

Sasuke scowled and turned away again,placing his hands on the sill,' You really think i am a monster , don't you?,he murmured hands tightening on the ledge.

He heard footsteps coming towards him.

'Please turn, I need to apply this ointment on you,y-your wounds will get infected'

Sasuke didn't move.

Her footsteps came closer, and suddenly she was wedging herself into the space between him and the window, between his arms.

Sasuke watched her dip her fingers in the jar and then apply a thick paste to the gash across his chest, manoeuvring easily, unhurriedly in the cramped space.

He suddenly stepped closer, bringing his arms in on either side of her, effectively trapping her, expecting her to flinch or scream, but she just looked up at him calmly with her wide Hyuuga eyes.

He searched them for the fear and hatred he knew must be, **should be** brimming in them,he needed to find it...

he deserved it.

It wasn't there.

Grunting he released his hold and she resumed applying, closing the lid and stepping out just as serenely as she had started.

Chirp chirp chirp.

'Infernal bird ', said sasuke swatting at the thing next to his shoulder.

The canary, as if sensing his displeasure, kept its distance, settling on Hinata's shoulder and hiding in her neck.

Hinata looked at sasuke in reproach as she muttered soothing sounds at the scared thing, stroking its feathers until it emerged from her neck to chirp back at her.

The gash on her cheek infuriated him.

Sasuke crossed over to the bed and started looking for his weapons and clothes.

'What are you doing ?,'Hinata's voice said with disapproval.

'There is no point to this. If you won't come to your senses and leave, then I will.'

Silence.

'Sasuke...

I know about... about Itachi-nii-san.',

The Uchiha froze.

'He was-is a hero', said Hinata, her voice breaking as Sasuke's memories of his brothers sacrifice came flooding back to her,'I'm-im sorry for..everything..'

Sasuke silently strode out of the cottage and disappeared.


	24. Chapter 24

Authors note:

Dedicated to RedVelvetLips-Thank you for your in-depth review.

You have captured exactly what the story is about-

Sasukes fallibility..and hopefully...redemption.

To all my readers,Thank you for sticking with the fic this far.

much love!

*end authors note*

—

Hinata was tending to her vegetables when he returned, her byakugan immediately activated.

He stood at the edge of the clearing, shadowed amongst the trees.

Silent.

Watching.

She raised a hand in greeting...

and he vanished.

—-

Hinata considered leaving more than a few times.

It had been early spring when sasuke had...captured her and now winter was ending. They must have given up searching for her for a long time now at home.

Home...

She missed home.

She missed Hanabi, her little sister..she missed Neji-nii-san, she missed Kiba, Shino and she even missed her father.

She missed home.

She missed Konoha.

But.

Sasuke **needed** this.

He needed to come back and see her here.

Waiting for him...

She had abandoned him once.

She needed him to know she would never leave him again.

No matter **how** much he wanted her to.


	25. Chapter 25

Authors note:Warning-Gore and frightening themes.

* * *

Kokais chirping woke her up from her nap on the porch.

The warm afternoon sun had lulled her to sleep, and she was dismayed to realise it was now past sunset. She yawned softly.

A sound made her freeze.

Men.

Drunk laughter filled the air.

They had just entered the clearing, parallel to her cottage,too far away to notice her yet,but drawing closer and closer.

She scrutinised them with her byakugan.

The men were voraciously drunk, jostling each other. They were wild looking and beefy ,small time crooks she gauged by the looks of their shoddy weapons, probably on the way back from a tavern taking the shorter route home through the woods.

Hinata stayed still, hoping the clouded night was dark enough to shroud her as they passed.

They were civilians and she was a trained Shinobi.

If it came down to a fight she could take them, but her fighting style was close range combat and with twenty of them attacking simultaneously, she would either have to kill a few of them or risk being overwhelmed.

Neither option was appealing.

As if laughing in the face of her silent plea the impish moon emerged from the sky and she was lit up as if by spotlight.

'Oye what's that!'

And like hounds sensing a bone , twenty to a man , their eyes honed in on her.

Someone whistled.

,'That's a prime piece if I ever saw one'

There were drunken murmurs of assent.

Hinata carefully adjusted her position, gathering chakra into her hands, contemplating her next move.

They were closing in on her.

Kokai was chirping wildly now, fluttering around her head darting out and back in.

'The heck is that?'.

A crude knife zipped past Hinata.

The chirping stopped.

Hinata froze, her heart in her throat, before releasing her breath in relief when the chittering restarted from farther away.

'Gosh darn it! I missed',whined one of them drunkenly,his statement followed by raucous laughter .

Hinata readied herself.

'Is she blind?'

'Who cares, 'one drawled, a large bearded man , wiping his mouth with the back of his hand ,'look at her curves.'

'Yeah! so what if she's blind, it's her body we're going to f-'

The mans voice cut off as a gurgling sound filled the air,blood gushing out of his throat, a kunai imbedded in his neck.

Time stood still as the man floundered towards his mates ,eyes wide, hand futilely raised as if in an effort to stamp the flow.

When he fell on his face, the men came out of their stupor.

'GET HER!', the bearded one roared running towards her. The ones behind following in a crazed mob.

'Amaterasu'.

Screams filled the air as a black fire appeared in front them, charring the limbs of the ones closest.

Unprepared for this new foe, they turned tail and ran, scrambling over each other in this haste.

Sasuke stood in front of her, his face set in cold fury, a harsh smirk appearing on his face as the screams amplified when the men realised the fire was following them.

'Sasuke! Stop! Let them go!,'Hinata screamed latching on to his arm.

The fire disappeared in an instant.

They glared at each other, ignoring the nineteen terrified men as they ran with all their might from the demons in the forest.

'Why did you interfere?,' Hinata exclaimed ,' I could've handled them!'

Sasuke glowered silently.

Letting go of his arm in frustration,'They were just drunk civilians ! You were about to kill them all!', Hinata hissed, turning to walk back into the hut, the sight of the now charred body sickening her.

Sasuke grabbed her arm, and whirled her around.

'What did you want me to do? ,'he barked out,'Wait for you to be overwhelmed before intervening?Those weren't men Hinata,' sasuke seethed,' they were rabid dogs and they needed to be put down for even **thinking** about hurting **what is mine.** '

Hinata sighed.

'You still don't think I can take care of myself, do you?', she said softly.

Sasuke frowned, expecting anger and fury, not her gentle reproach.

She looked into his eyes and he cleared his throat, straightening.

'You would have attempted to disarm them at the risk of your own safety,' he said gruffly,' I couldn't let them get close enough for you to try. '

Hinata crossed her arms over her chest disappointedly, not approving of his explanation but deciding to let it slide.

Shaking her head, she stepped closer, reaching out her hand slowly,hesitantly almost expecting to have it slapped away, carefully watching the erratic Avengers face.

Sasuke looked down at her fingers as she intertwined them in his but besides a slight frown, didn't make any other move.

A pause.

Encouraged, Hinata tugged gently at it, moving them towards the cottage.

'Come, kokai and I have been waiting for you.'

As if beckoned, chirping filled the air and the canary fluttered excitedly around the brooding Uchihas head.

Hinata giggled at his annoyed face.

'See, she missed you.

Sasuke looked down at her and Hinata knew what he was silently asking.

'I- I missed you too.'

* * *

Please read and review! 3


	26. Chapter 26

They were being domestic, Hinata realised, looking around her as she hung laundry to dry and sasuke chopped fire wood.

She silently giggled at the sight of the Great Uchiha, dragging branches behind him, sighing exasperatedly at the excited bird chittering around his head.

It...suited him,she thought, noticing the way he held his body more loosely,his stance more open,

less tension in his broad shoulders.

His broad..

broad shoulders.

Years of relentless training had shaped Sasuke's lean body into chiselled perfection.

It glistened in the sun now, each muscle on his arms and abdomen pulled taught and defined as he raised the large makeshift axe to bring it down on the timber.

His shirt had been discarded a long time ago, as it had been many times before whenever they sparred or trained, and yet this was the first time Hinata couldn't pull her gaze away from him, staring transfixed as a stray drop of sweat meandered enticingly down his neck, over his collar bone , down his chest..

A sudden prickling on her skin made her glance up and she froze like a deer caught in headlights, which she was, if the headlights were Uchiha.

Hinata felt a furious blush instantly rise up up her face, mortified to have been caught staring like a , like a

'IM NOT A LECHER!,' She screeched suddenly, then MEEPED and slapped her hands over her treacherous mouth.

Her eyes widened in horror at having yelled her thoughts out loud, confirming that she had, in fact, been lechering.

Feeling herself beginning to hyperventilate Hinata panicked and barricaded herself in the cottage, the intensity of the Uchiha gaze burrowing holes through the door .

—-

They ate dinner in silence, Hinata blushing every time she felt Sasuke's pondering gaze on her.

He hadn't said a word when she had finally gathered the courage to open the door, strolling casually in as if he hadn't been locked outside for hours.

'Hinataa...'

'EEP', Hinata jumped, his low baritone sending shivers down her spine, sending her bowl careening off the tray.

Sasuke caught it and looked up at her with hooded eyes.

'Did I scare you?', he drawled in that same deep tone.

Sure he was doing it on purpose, Hinata glared at him , then returned her eyes to her food, poking furiously at the vegetables.

When it was time to sleep, she hid under the covers on the bed until she sensed Sasuke settle into his futon in the corner of the one roomed cottage.

Hinata blushed again.

She was in a room.

Alone.

At night.

With sasuke.

And he had caught her **staring** at him.

 **Shirtless**.

Hinata groaned inwardly.

'Why did she do this to herself ?'


	27. Chapter 27

—-

Sasuke was toying with her, Hinata thought balefully, as he yet again 'accidentally' stroked his hand across her sweaty back during their spar,in a **very** un spar like way.

Spring had shifted to summer now, and Hinata had reluctantly given in to removing her full sleeved shirt when they sparred, which had never been a problem before as Sasuke had always been curt and authoritative during training.

Now however...

Hinata squealed when Sasuke suddenly appeared in front of her, close enough for her chest, heaving with exertion, to brush against his. She froze immediately, holding her breath.

'Hinata...,' Sasuke said, infuriatingly drawing her name out in a way she knew he knew she found attractive.

'Hinata?,' asked Sasuke ,eyes brimming with amusement,'Breathe little bird...you're turning blue.' And popped her ballooning cheeks with a poke of his finger.

Hinata gasped , clutching at sasuke ,inhaling giant gulps of air.

'You're laughing at me,'said Hinata crossly, looking up at the vexing man.

Sasuke looked down at her and **chuckled**.

Sasuke Uchiha.

The Avenger.

The man who struck terror into the hearts of the Shinobi world.

 **Chuckled**.

And it was because of her.

Hinata's heart soared at the sight and she reached up on her toes and pecked him delicately on the lips.

Sasuke responded instantly, pressing his mouth against hers in an innocent touch.

When they separated, foreheads pressed together, and she saw the soft, content smile on Sasuke's face, she kissed him again, this time trying to convey her happiness, her affection, and her love all in one.

Sasuke's arms tightened around her back.

She settled her hands around his neck gently stroking the short hair at the nape and felt herself smile when she sensed him shiver in response.

He brought his hand up and tilted her chin, angling her jaw.

She felt his thumb brush against her lower lip and she paused, unsure of how to respond.

He sensed her confusion and gently nipped at her bottom lip.

She gasped, and felt Sasuke's tongue entering her mouth.

She moved her hands into his hair, lost in sensation.

Hinata's thoughts emptied.

Nothing existed except her and sasuke. **Her** Sasuke.

One hand on her back moved lower, toying with the edge of her tank top. She sensed his hesitation and brought her hand down on top of his, making it slip under the cloth.

His large hand was cool against her waist and she felt her insides coil as it shifted to trace leisurely up and down her spine.

She moved her hands to the front of his chest, resting them against his heated skin, gently digging her nails into his skin when she felt his thumb brush under her breast bindings,her toes curling in anticipation.

'Sasuke...', She breathed, wanting him to know, needing him to know how much she wanted him.

Everything stilled.

Hinat blinked past the haze of her mind.

Sasuke's mouth was no longer on hers.

She looked up, confusion and hurt replacing the passion in her heart.

She tried to twist away from him, the pang of rejection bringing unbidden tears to her eyes.

His arms tightened around her.

Sasuke brushed the back of his fingers gently against her jaw and rested his forehead on hers,

'Hinata,' he murmured, as she avoided his gaze,'look at me, Hinata.'

She looked into his eyes and her heart caught in her throat, his eyes were dark, full of deep longing, looking at her with so much love she thought she would cry.

'Hinata..I,' Sasuke, the fearsome Uchiha, hesitated,' I need you to say it..'

'Huh?Say...what?'

Sasuke laughed ,' My sweet, innocent little bird,' he said before bringing his lips close to her ear, and whispering in that deep,

wonderful way, 'I need you to say yes...to me Hinata...'

'All of you,' he continued softly, kissing her forehead ,' to all of me.'

Hinata blushed furiously, impulsively hiding her face with her palms.

Sasuke chuckled again, kissing the back of each hand, before gently peeling them away from her and holding them in his own.

'Yes,' Hinata whispered.

Sasuke tilted her head up and made her look into his eyes, searching for something, searching for...permission?

'Yes,' she said again, realising how important it was for him to make sure she was ready, to make sure it was something **she** wanted.

'I love you,'He whispered, kissing her forehead again gently.

In the blink of an eye he had her up in his arms, carrying her to their cottage, to their home.

* * *

Authors note:Hi everyone

this story is undergoing a slight revamp.

i read all of your reviews and understand where you are coming from about the ending being too sudden.

it had a bit to do with the fact that I wanted SasuHina to be purely happy for once and also that unfinished stories break my heart.

so I kinda accelerated to the happy ending.

I see now that was slightly self gratifying and not totally in line with the tone of story so i will be working on that.

thank you for the kind reviews 3


End file.
